In Memory: Sylvia Culp

Sylvia Culp was my mentor in graduate school, who passed away in 2004 after a three-year battle with breast cancer. She was an accomplished scientist who worked as a microbiologist in cancer research at Scripps and SUNY Stonybrook. Some years later she pursued another advanced degree, in Philosophy, and completed her second PhD in 4 years (studying under Philip Kitcher at UC San Diego).

I had only known Dr. Culp for two years prior to her passing, but she had made a tremendous impact in my life. She continues to influence me today as a college instructor.

In an effort to preserve part of her academic legacy, I've decided to dedicate a page to her with a list of some of her publications. Philosophy of Science is most certainly not my field (and not my area of interest), but perhaps it will be yours.

Academic Contributions (not exhaustive):

  • "Establishing Genotype/Phenotype Relationships: Gene Targeting as an Experimental Approach." Philosophy of Science 64 (1997): S268-278. www.jstor.org/stable/188409.
  • with Robert Hafner. "Elaborating the Structures of a Scientific Discipline to Improve Problem-Solving Instruction: An Account of Classical Genetics' Theory of Structure, Function, and Development." Science and Education 5, no. 4 (1996): 331-55. rdcu.be/bL1Ro
  • "Objectivity in Experimental Inquiry: Breaking Data-Technique Circles." Philosophy of Science 62, no. 3 (1995): 438-58. www.jstor.org/stable/188497.
  • "Defending Robustness: The Bacterial Mesosome as a Test Case." PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994 (1994): 46-57. www.jstor.org/stable/193010.
  • Dissertation: "Objectivity in Experimental Inquiry." University of California, San Diego (1992). philpapers.org/rec/CULOIE-2
  • with Philip Kitcher. "Theory Structure and Theory Change in Contemporary Molecular Biology." The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 40, no. 4 (1989): 459-83. www.jstor.org/stable/687736.
  • [Published under Sylvia Culp Riley,] with Sarah J. Connors, Norman R. Klinman, and Ronald T. Ogata. "Preferential Expression of Variable Region Heavy Chain Gene Segments by Predominant 2,4-dinitrophenyl-Specific BALB/c Neonatal Antibody Clonotypes." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 83, no. 8 (1986): 2589-593. www.jstor.org/stable/27330.